Water Hookup Charges, Building Permit Fees Go Up

OAKLAND — New water customers and those who want to build or remodel a house or do any other construction in town must pay twice as much for permits and fees.

After a public hearing and final vote, the town council Sept. 9 approved increases that will double water connection charges and building permit fees. The new charges took effect Friday.

Town officials have not said directly if the extra money from increases in the water connection charges will be used specifically to pay for a new backup water system. However, the higher fees were adopted ''to defray the costs of expansion, improvement and future distribution of the facilities for water . . .,'' the ordinance says.

The money from water connection charges will go into a separate fund, town officials said.

Connection charges will rise from $500 to $1,000, making them the highest among west Orange County cities. Materials and installation will be extra, along with a 10 percent surcharge to cover engineering and administrative costs. If no water main is on the property, the builder will have to pay to extend the main to the site and loop it back into the system.

Building permit fees will go up 100 percent as well. For example, the fee for a $40,000 home will increase from $137 to $274. Inspection charges will triple from $5 to $15.

Oakland borrowed $100,000 earlier this year to finance construction of an auxiliary well and pump that is nearly completed. Since it took out the loan, other proposals to repay the money have not worked.

Orange County Community Development turned down the town's request for a $120,000 grant because the project did not fall within federal guidelines.

In June the council considered drastically raising building impact fees to pay for the system but later dropped the idea on the advice of town attorney William Asma. He told council members last month that the easiest way to finance the project would be to increase fees for water connections and building permits.

In other business, the council:

-- Decided it was too late to include an involuntary annexation referendum on the Nov. 4 ballot. Officials want to annex more than 36 acres on the north side of town near Lake Apopka, but the annexation must be involuntary because Oakland could not get all the property owners to agree to join the town.

Two property owners wanted to build single-family homes on their land and had requested annexation. To get them into the town, Oakland would have to annex surrounding property.

Officials could not get the issue on the November ballot because one owner who had asked for annexation failed to pay for a prior annexation request and his share of the expenses in the involuntary annexation.

The council told Asma to contact both parties to see if they would pay for a special election or if they would rather wait until elections in November 1987.

-- Voted to try to force the owner of the Oakland Hilton, a rental building across from town hall, to clean up his property. A petition signed by 25 people complained about the building at 1 W. Petris St., calling it an eyesore, a devaluation to neighboring land and a potential health hazard because of scattered garbage. Residents lodged similar complaints about the same property about two years ago.

-- Learned that the project to pave and drain part of Tubb Street should begin Sept. 28 and be completed by early February. The project will cost nearly $98,000.

The road will be paved from the abandoned railroad right of way, just north of town hall, to Speer Avenue. The road will be lowered and some trees will be cut down to make the improvements. Drainage will be improved with construction of a retention pond and a culvert at the end of Tubb near Lake Apopka.

-- Set a budget workshop and meeting for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to adopt a budget for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.